The present invention relates to a toaster having a housing provided with one or more toasting openings each for accommodating one or more slices of bread for making toast, characterized in that the housing is provided with a toast rack compartment for accommodating a tray that is slidably displaceable between extended and retracted positions relative to said toaster housing, collapsible toast rack means being mounted on said tray for storing toast that is prepared by said toaster.
Toasters are well known in the art and are used by many people for a long time for making toast, i.e., for making sliced bread brown and crisp by exposing it to direct heat. Usually such toasters are adapted to make two or four pieces of toast at the same time. If more then two or four pieces of toast have to be made, the pieces of toast have to be stored in a place where the toast stays warm.
Since the toast stays warmer when it is in a vertical position then in a position lying flatxe2x80x94face up or face down on a plate or in a bread-basketxe2x80x94toast racks are often used for holding warm toast in a vertical position.
Toast racks which are also well known in the art usually consists of two rods or bars arranged in parallel with each other and connected to each other by a plurality of bows made of wire which are arranged in parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the rods so as to form a plurality of spaces for accommodating slices of bread.
Although such toast racks are suitable for holding slices of bread, in particular toasted slices of bread, such a toast rack needs a lot of space beside the toaster even if it is not needed.
The object underlying the present invention is to provide a new toaster which simplifies making toast and keeping toast warm.
According to the present invention the toaster housing is provided with a compartment for accommodating a drawer or tray that is adapted to be pulled out of and pushed into said housing, collapsible toast rack means being carried by the tray. Thus, the toast rack is an integral part of the toaster so that a separate toast rack is not required when making toast, since the toast rack can be easily pulled out from its storage position within the compartment of the housing into its operating position outside the housing. Therefore, the toast rack is always available when making toast with a toaster according to the present invention.
To simplify handling, the toast rack means includes a plurality of generally U-shaped rack members formed of rods or wires, wherein said rack members are effectively joined together so that said rack members are movable in synchronism with each other, said rack members being joined by means of a wire.
Due to this embodiment it is very easy for the user to bring the toast rack means into its operating position, since the user only needs to pull the drawer out of the housing and to lift up by hand only one of the rack members from its lying down position into its upright position, whereby the other rack members follow this movement.
According to a suitable refinement of the present invention, said rack members are biased into their upright positions by spring means, so that said rack members are automatically moved into their upright positions when said drawer is pulled out of said housing.
To ensure that the rack members will stay in their upright positions when the toast rack is needed, said rack members are releasably locked in their upright positions.
To reduce the space needed for the toast rack within the housing of the toaster, the rack members are of graduated size, so that they fit into each other in a nested relation when they are folded into their lying down position. Due to this feature all the nested rack members can be arranged in a single plane.
Therefore, the drawer carrying the toast rack means can be made very flat and does not increase the height of the toaster significantly.
According to another refinement of the present invention, the compartment for accommodating the toast rack drawer is provided in a base of said housing, whereby said toast rack means fits into the housing at the bottom thereof.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the toast rack drawer comprises a sliding drawer tray preferably made of metal onto which said rack members are mounted, and a drawer cover is provided that is preferably made of a synthetic plastic material. This arrangement improves not only the construction of the toast rack means, but also the ability of preventing toast from being cooled by circulating air. In particular, the sliding drawer tray preferably is made of metal and is arranged beneath the spaces, thereby accommodating toasted slices of bread and preventing or hindering air from circulating along the toasted bread due to heat convection.